The Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) has recently launched its Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4) initiatives; aimed at preparing the local workforce for the Fourth Industrial Revolution that is rapidly taking place.

According to the press release, HRDF is strongly supporting the collaboration between Penang Skills Development Centre (PSDC) and Knowledgecom Corporation to promote the National Empowerment in Certification and Training for Next Generation Workforce Programme (NECT-Gen). Executed with the launch of the Centres of Excellence in Technology (CoETs), this collaboration is in line with the government’s efforts to spearhead the development of IR4.0 and create “smart factories.”

At the launch, minister of human resources, Yang Berhormat Dato Sri Dr. Richard Riot Anak Jaem said that while automation might remove some routine and repetitive jobs, the advancement of the revolution brought more focus to the need to up-skill and re-skill the Malaysian workforce, which is often overlooked.

He commented: “Malaysian employers, employees and businesses need to respond to IR4 in an integrated and comprehensive manner; which means we need to have all stakeholders involved – from the public and private sectors to academicians, politicians and policy makers.”

On that note, Dato CM Vignaesvaran Jeyandran, chief executive of HRDF, shared that the company has set in place several strategies to help HRDF-registered employers and employees prepare for the robot revolution.

These include establishing partnerships with industry players such as the Malaysian Plastic Manufacturers Malaysia (MPMA) and implementing trainings for the development of IR4 for plastic companies in Malaysia.

According to the release, HRDF is currently enabling funds for training programmes in ICT adoption and big data, over a period of four years until the year 2020. This is in addition to identifying IR4 programmes that meet the needs of the industry,

The event also witnessed the signing ceremony of two Memorandums of Understanding. The first was between HRDF and PSDC on the commitment to promote the adoption and training implementation of Industry 4.0 nationwide, and the second was between the PSDC and Knowledgecom Corporation on the formation of the CoETs in federal territory as well as fifteen other CoETs to expand the Industry 4.0 certification programmes.

These centres are strategically located around Malaysia and have the capacity and capability to deliver high-end technology certification programmes that are of Industry 4.0 standards. The

mentioned certification programmes are offered through partnerships with PSDC, SAP, Microsoft, Oracle and many others including universities and polytechnics.